Boise Runner Fascial Self-Care, Studio-Care & Assessments

Running is freedom in motion

Below represents a "in the nut-shell" look at what I have learned over my last 8 years of clinical practice working with the connective tissue and high-performing nervous systems of runners of all ages and performance levels. I wanted to give you some simple yet effective free self-care strategies as well as studio-care that I offer our runners at the studio.

Below I will share with you some basics to maintain and some detailed work I do in the studio in the event you wanted to advance the care of your connective tissue in relation to running.

Enjoy this page dedicated solely to improving the health of every runner or aspiring runner whom comes across it.

"I've had two amazing massage therapists in the 18 years I've been getting monthly deep tissue massages, so when my last therapist moved, I struggled to find a new one. A friend recommended Brandon, and after my first visit I knew I'd be coming back. Brandon is incredibly knowledgeable, and I appreciated how he listened to what I needed and suggested additional things I could do. I'm a runner, so I count on my massage therapist for real deep tissue work. But I also depend on energy work and nutritional counseling.Brandon does it all. I'm so very glad I found him!."

Anatomy of Lower Leg (posterior & lateral views)

Just to give you some insider view on some of the individual tissue that is addressed at Body Epiphanies Massage & Nutrition.It is recommended you go to Shu's Idaho Running Company to get fitted for your specific needs for shoes.

Fascial Health General Suggestions

Mustard Packets for halting cramps (I recommend popping into Whole Foods and in the cafeteria area grab two or more of their mustard packs. This is one of the top pro tricks for any athlete to pop a packet of mustard and keep it in your mouth than swallow and within 1-2 minutes it tends to interfere with the cramping process. Don't forget to stay hydrated with coconut water or water mineralized with electrolytes to prevent this from happening. Here's a great article on this.)

Lacrosse Ball(I carry one in my laptop bag and have multiple at home, use it with slow compression and shear throughout tissue that is restricted on your body while watching TV, etc.)

Phenocane(this substitute for Asprin helps with inflammatory pathways associated with wear & tear. It's best not to take right away after a workout, however the next day as you don't want to interrupt the inflammatory process of rebuilding tissue overnight.)

Some Assessment Tests Used In-Studio

These are some brief examples of assessment tools used at Body Epiphanies Massage & Nutrition to determine where to direct manual therapies for each specific individual. Not every session requires testing, however in difficult cases or for athletes (professional and recreational) it is important to assess and reassess to determine if therapies are appropriate for each individual client.

Spartan Specific Studio-Care Videos

Below you will see a series of videos of the kind of care I deliver to my clients. Because time is ever so short and I never liked the idea of reinventing the wheel, these videos are not of me, but of therapies and strategies that I use in the studio on a near-daily basis.

Some more details of sports massage therapy we do with runners who have ankle and foot pain. These are some of our more gentle therapies to loosen tissue up. The following videos will go a little more into specific trigger point therapy, myofascial release techniques used in the studio.​

This is often needed to decreases over-activity within the gastrocnemius and soleus of the lower leg.

After some assessment with a overhead squat or positive thomas test it can be determined whether or not the need of psoas...

Static Manual Release (Soft Tissue Mobilization) of the Flexor Hallucis Longus and Flexor Digitorum Longus (FHL & FDL). This is absolutely necessary to treat in nearly any and all runner due to the stress-load put on these muscles and surrounding tissue.​​

A common hamstring TPT and fascial release for runners.​

This, as with each one of these videos represent some of the more commonly address tissues, the clinical reasoning, assessment and treatments.

Spartan Specific Self-Care Videos

Ben Greenfield shows you exactly which gear he used for 2015 Spartan World Championships in Lake Tahoe, along with pre-race nutrition, shorts, shoes, socks, during race nutrition, supplements and more. Ben provides us all with some of the finest recommendations in all areas of fitness so this is worth your time.

Do you want to conquer the Spartan Race wall climb? I laid out the best obstacle course race training exercises to add to your workouts that will have you dominating the Spartan Race wall climb. Take on Spartan Race 2016 with NO FEAR. A great reminder to train diligently on this in order to make race day easier.

The subscapularis is one of those notorious muscles of the rotator cuff. When this thing becomes tight and dysfunctional it can not only cause shoulder pain and it can also ruin your posture and cause other orthopedic injuries!

Running is one of the most fundamental forms of exercise, but it can also be one of the most destructive. There is no doubt that running and learning how to run faster is a high impact activity that can put excessive strain on your joints and ligaments in your ankles, knees, hips and lower back...

The quadratus lumborum is one of those muscles that often gets overlooked and it ends up wreaking havoc on your training. This deep back muscle has major implications on your training when it isn’t properly stretched and released...

Flat feet are common, occurring in almost 20 percent of the population. If you have them, you likely already know that they can really hurt your ability to workout, or at least workout as effectively as you could be. In this video, I cover 5 ways that flat feet can destroy your workouts and provide you with two exercises for...

Check out these Runner's Knee Exercises from sports injury specialist James Dunne. This ten minute routine of stretches and exercises for Runner's Knee will help you recover from this common problem and get back to training.

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​This webpage contains affiliate links, which means Brandon may receive a percentage of any product or service you purchase using the links in the suggestions above. You will pay the same price for all products and services, and your purchase helps support Brandon's ongoing research and work to help create meaningful content for the those in the Treasure Valley. ​This also helps keep the e-mail consult costs down. Thanks for your support!